It is well known in motor vehicle bodies to mount the fuel filler neck within a flanged opening of the vehicle body rear quarter panel. A door is provided to fit within the opening flush with the body panel to conceal the fuel filler neck.
A preferred arrangement for hinging the fuel filler door includes a gooseneck hinge bracket which extends beyond the confines of the door and is hinged to the vehicle body at a distance from the flanged opening. Accordingly, when the door is pivoted to the open position, the gooseneck hinge bracket establishes an open position in which the door is located beyond the confines of the flanged opening to avoid any interference between the fuel fill nozzle and the hinge or the door. An overcenter spring is associated with the hinge and acts between the vehicle body and the gooseneck hinge bracket to selectively bias the fuel filler door to either the open or closed positions. A shortcoming of the aforedescribed prior art hinge construction is that a finger depression must be provided in either the quarter panel or the door opposite from the hinge in order to enable the gripping of the door to move the door to the open position.
The prior art has also recognized that the fuel filler door can be mounted on a hinge pin defining a hinge axis which is located within the confines of the door. Accordingly the door is opened by pressing inwardly on the end of the door adjacent the hinge axis so that the other end of the door pops open to be gripped for moving the door to the open position. A shortcoming of this type hinge arrangement is that the end of the door which is pressed inwardly requires that a substantial space be provided inwardly of the door to receive and store that end portion of the door. Furthermore, the presence of the door as well as the hinge and the associated spring for holding the door in the open and closed positions may somewhat obstruct the entry of the fuel fill nozzle.
It would be desirable to provide a fuel filler door construction having the advantages of both the above-described prior art hinge constructions. More particularly it would be desirable to provide a fuel filler hinge construction in which the door is mounted by a gooseneck hinge bracket so that the door is fully outside the body panel opening when the door is in the open position and yet the door can be opened by pressing inwardly on a margin of the door to thereby eliminating need for any finger grip depression in the door or the quarter panel.